Two pints of Butter beer and a basket of chips
by xPhineasx
Summary: After a disastrous date with Luna, Neville finds the comfort of an old friend. Maybe his next first date will go better.  and in fact, it does  Neville/Hannah. Fluffy.


Do you guys have any idea how weird it feels for me to be writing a Canon Het pairing?

But I can't resist the cute.

. . .

Two Pints of Butterbeer and a Basket of Chips

. . .

Neville had been so pumped up on adrenaline that he barely even remembered asking Luna out on a date. He had felt on top of the world. Voldemort was dead, he had killed the snake, the world was shiny and perfect and new and he had walked up to Luna Lovegood and asked her to go see a movie with him. Luna didn't even know what a movie was, but for some reason agreed.

A week later, he met Luna in Diagon Alley. They walked in stilted silence into London Proper to see "Godzilla" in theaters. Seeing Muggles movies for a date had originally been Seamus's idea. Seamus's dad was a muggle, and apparently it was traditional for first dates to involve a movie in the Muggle world. Neville thought the idea was rather daring. Muggle dates seemed so interesting after all. It was different, and unique. Surely it would impress Luna, wouldn't it?

Luna seemed distracted and uninterested but then, Neville consoled himself, this was Luna. She had worn her turnip earrings and a bottle cap necklace, looking rather alien and strange, but cute in her way. People on the street kept staring. It made Neville embarrassed, but Luna didn't seem to notice. The movie was nice enough, a bit loud and a bit dumb, but entertaining. Neville kept wanting to reach over and take Luna's hand, but felt so clumsy and misplaced, he couldn't do it. He felt foolish for being nervous, but his social anxiety was cropping up on him. What if Luna tried to pull away? She didn't even seem very interested in the movie. Still, it was a bearable level of awkwardness. He still had faith he could make this work.

Things didn't really get deeply uncomfortable until after the movie when Neville took Luna to one of London's parks for ice cream cones. They were sitting on a stone park bench, an old street lamp bathing them in a pool of artificial light. They were close enough to touch, but weren't touching.

Neville felt wooden and clammy and had no idea what to say. Luna was sitting there, licking her ice cream cone as she stared around the park. "I'm sure there are lots of nargles in those bushes. I wish I had brought them some maple syrup. Nargles love maple syrup."

Neville gave a mute nod. He didn't know anything about nargles. In fact he was pretty sure that nargles didn't exist, but trying to point that out to Luna would no doubt end in her giving him that almost sad sort of 'why don't you understand' look before going back into her own ultra-magical world.

Still, Luna was beautiful. Her blond hair caught the electric light from the street lamp just right, framing her in a halo of gold. She had the tiniest smudge of ice cream in the corner of her mouth, and her eyes had a far away look, as though she could see into a different dimension. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to try, to see if maybe he could catch a little of her whimsy translucent charm in what would surely be a fumbling, clumsy kiss. He was too nervous though, like his stomach was in knots. He'd take a sword fight with Nagini over this any day.

"You want to kiss me, but you won't, will you?" Luna said, turning to look at him with her cloudy eyes. "How incredibly odd. You were so brave in the battle. You really can be a bit cowardly at times though." She didn't sound mean when she said it. She said it like it was just a vaguely interesting fact, but it made Neville feel even more stupid, foolish, and out of place. He didn't feel himself at all.

What was he doing here?

He walked Luna back to the Leaky Cauldron and told her to have a nice night. He didn't plan on asking her out again.

He was supposed to be a hero now, and heroes were supposed to get the girl, weren't they? Harry and Ginny Weasley had gotten back together, Ron and Hermione were dating now, and him? He had, in the heat of the moment, asked out a really pretty, sweet girl who looked right through him and made him feel like his shoes were four times too big. He felt rather dumb about it.

It wasn't Luna's fault. She just needed someone who didn't get so thrown off by her odd comments, someone who didn't feel uncomfortable when Muggles stared at her on the street, someone who could laugh when she talked about nargles instead of saying nothing at all. Neville wasn't a coward anymore, but he had no idea how to handle Luna. She deserved someone...well, not better exactly, but someone different at least.

He slumped down at a table and waited for a waitress to come so he could order a butter beer. The Leaky Cauldron was mostly deserted. Only a few patrons were lingering around. One appeared to be a vampire, nursing a cup of wine and trying to look normal. A few goblins sat in the corner having some hushed argument. Neville felt lonely and misplaced. He almost got up to go home and water his Fanged Geraniums in defeat just as the waitress walked up.

"Oh, hello Neville." Neville looked up to see Hannah Abbott smiling at him in a frankly adorable apron. He hadn't seen her since the day of the battle when the DA had met up and resolved to fight for their school.

"Hi Hannah," he said, giving her a smile. Hannah was nice. He'd gotten a real chance to know her better their last year of school. She had gone to all their secret DA meetings, no matter how dangerous it got. He had forgotten that she had gotten a job at the Leaky Cauldron. "Can I order a butter beer?" he asked her.

"Sure, Neville. Hey, were you just here with Luna Lovegood?" Hannah asked, pausing before she got his drink for him. She had her blond hair pulled back in a low bun, looking far more docile than Neville knew she could be. He had seen her in the battle. She could fight like a honey badger; fierce and surprisingly vicious. Neville knew that the Death Eaters who killed her mother had been in that battle. Hannah hadn't wanted those bloody bastards to take anyone else she cared about, or her school. Looking at her now, you'd never know. She looked so...soft. She looked like a typical hufflepuff, easy going and nice.

"Yeah...that was Luna," he said, with a slight sigh.

"Was it a date?"

"...kind of. It didn't go well." Neville tried not to think of all the misplaced silences and uncomfortable pauses his 'date' had entailed. He felt so foolish about it. He could inspire the DA to rise up in battle against the Death Eaters who threatened them, but alone with Luna he had felt like a moron.

"Ah. One butter beer, right away, on the house." Hannah gave him a small wink as she walked away. She returned quickly with two large amber pints and a basket of hot chips. "Here we are. A good old fashioned 'bad date pick me up' snack," she said with a smile.

"Hannah, you didn't have to..." Neville protested, though he already felt better.

Hannah sat down at the table across from him. "It's really alright Neville. I know how awful a bad date can feel. I remember the one time I let Ernie take me out to Hogsmeade."

"Oh?" Neville smiled at that. Nothing was better than a good 'bad date' story.

"Oh yes. He stepped on my feet, poured tea all over our table and ended up forgetting his wallet so I had to pay for it," Hannah said with a laugh. "Poor Ernie. He did apologize, but it wasn't exactly a fun time."

Neville let out a laugh. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one to bugger up a date. He took a deep drink from his butter beer and began to eat his chips. The more he ate, the better he felt. The conversation with Hannah was easy, and she made him laugh. They talked about Ernie, and about the DA, what it was like working at the Leaky Cauldron and Neville's current crop of geraniums. After they had both finished their drinks and the basket of chips, Hannah stood up.

"Well, I better get back to work," she said with a smile. "You should keep in touch, Neville. I'll be here every day but Monday and Tuesday this summer. I'm going to go back to school in autumn, since I missed that year when my mom died, but I'll be working here during Christmas break and everything. So...don't be a stranger, ok?"

"Sure thing," Neville said and decided to head on home to his Gran and his plants, not in triumph, but also not in defeat. The night had been salvaged.

He made it a habit to stop in at least once a week that summer to see Hannah. It was always so easy to fall into conversation with her, so easy to laugh. They would reminisce about the good times, like when Hannah botched her transfiguration O.W.L. by turning a ferret into a flock of flamingos, or the time Neville fainted in Herbology because of the Mandrakes, about DA meetings, and the Weasley's big escape. Sometimes they talked about the bad times, about how her mother had been killed in 6th year and she had to be pulled out of school, or about Neville's parents in St Mungo's. Even then, Neville felt like he could tell Hannah anything over a few pints of butter beer and a basket of chips.

Neville began to dread the coming of autumn, when Hannah would go back to Hogwarts to make up the year she had missed. It meant no more free butter beer. It meant no more simple, easy conversations with a pretty blond girl who made him feel normal. Neville began to realize that maybe, just maybe, he fancied her, and he didn't want her to leave for months and months while he went to Auror training with Harry and Ron.

He gathered up what Gryffindor courage he had and with only a few weeks of summer left, went to the Leaky Cauldron one day with a purpose.

"Ah! There's my favorite war hero," Hannah said happily as he entered the pub. "Let me go make up a basket of chips." Her hair was in a loose bun again. A Pigmy puff, no doubt from George Weasley's store, sat happily on her shoulder. It also looked happy to see him.

"Actually, Hannah, I wanted to ask you something," Neville's voice shook slightly. His face was turning blotchy and red with embarrassment, and he felt uncomfortably warm in his sweater. "I was...wondering...maybe...if you have time when you get off of work...would you go see a movie with me? Or...dinner? Or...um...a date. Yes, just a date."

"Really, Neville?" Hannah asked, stepping out from behind the bar. Her face melted from delightful shock to an amused but very pleased smile. "Yes. Yes, please. Meet me here at seven, ok?"

Neville nodded and rushed home to get himself ready. He only had four hours to prepare for his first date since the disastrous Luna encounter. He wasn't sure what he was thinking. Hannah was pretty, to be sure, and easy to talk to but if he buggered this up like he did with Luna then he risked spoiling a really good friendship. Gryffindor courage, he kept telling himself. Gryffindor courage, the hero gets the girl, take a chance, she's just so nice and funny and easy to talk to. He felt like he could open up to Hannah. He could tell her anything.

He was a little worried to be taking Hannah out to a muggle movie like he had with Luna. It was his only decent date idea though. Hannah had a muggle father, he remembered. Maybe she would take to the idea better than Luna, who had seemed confused by the concept in general.

It took him an hour too pick out the sweater he wanted to wear. He considered wearing a button up shirt, but it made him look like he was trying too hard, a kid playing dress up. So he went with his dark blue sweater and hoped for the best. He ended up pacing outside the Leaky Cauldron for half an hour before he went in. He had left his house too early, afraid of being late, and got there way too early.

Finally at 6:55, he went inside. Hannah was already there, her long hair loose down her back, with silver hoop earrings, a daisy yellow dress and thigh high yellow and black stripped socks. It was just the right combination of quirky and cute. She was breathtaking and Neville felt his nervousness double.

"So, my war hero has arrived," Hannah said when she saw him, blushing a light shade of pink.

They walked side by side into London Proper. Neville desperately wanted to take her hand, but his shyness was winning out. "I thought we might go see 'The Parent Trap'," He said, clearing his throat. He glanced over at her.

"My dad saw that the other day. He said it was good," Hannah said with a smile.

Merlin, Neville wanted to hold her hand. What's the worst that could happen? This was Hannah. Hannah was sweet. "H-hannah?" He said, clearing his throat again. "Would it be ok if I held your hand?" He felt a bit silly for having to ask permission, but his social anxiety was creeping up on him.

Hannah laughed softly and slipped her hand in his and laid her head on his shoulder as they walked. Neville felt a jolt of warmth through him. He was glad he had asked.

'The Parent Trap' was a pretty cute movie. Neville had wanted to put his arm around Hannah the entire time, but settled for just holding her hand. The angle his hand had to be at to hold hers was slightly uncomfortable, but every time he felt her gentle squeeze his fingers it was worth it. When it ended, they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah got them a pumpkin sundae to share. They sat outside on one of the benches in the soft candle light from the pub, trying to eat the ice cream before it melted and laughed as it dripped down their faces.

Neville wanted to kiss her. He felt terrified though, and felt silly for it. It was the same nervousness that had spoiled his date with Luna months earlier, and even after all the easiness and fun with Hannah he still felt nervous about the idea of kissing her. Other than kissing Ginny Weasley quickly on the lips as they parted the Yule Ball, Neville had never kissed a girl. He wasn't sure kissing Ginny even counted. It had lasted barely a moment, and had been nothing more than a timid formality.

He was still trying to wrestle with his nervousness when he felt Hannah squeeze his hand.

"Neville?" she said softly.

"Yes?"

She closed her eyes and leaned forward, placing her lips on his. Her hand was trembling slightly, and Neville could tell she was just as nervous as him. Slowly he began to relax, brushing her hair behind her ear as he kissed her more. She tasted like pumpkin and sugar.

Hannah finally pulled out of the kiss to breath, their noses still touching.

"Hannah?"

"Yes?" Hannah answered softly, a look of delicate hope in her eyes.

"W-will you be my girlfriend?" Neville asked, terrified. He'd never had a girlfriend before. He'd never made out with a girl like that before either though, and he figured that went pretty well.

Hannah placed a small kiss on his lips. "Of course," she said softly. "I've sort of fancied you since the beginning of our last year in school," she admitted with a blush. "You'll have to come see me on Hogsmeade weekends during school. Promise?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage that."

Neville felt like he was on top of the world. He could breath fire. He could kill Nagini a hundred times. He could fly to the moon. Feeling like a happy madman, he kissed Hannah again.

Years later, when Hannah had become the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron and Neville had taken up teaching at Hogwarts, he'd look back on their early relationship and chuckle at how nervous and cute they'd both been. They had dated for three years before they got married, finally tying the knot in the fall of 2001, surrounded by friends and autumn leaves. These days he'd find himself staring off into space, smiling to himself just as Hannah would sweep into the room with a tray of warm chips and a cold butter beer, or a plate of cupcakes to tide him over while he graded papers.

Neville kept the gardens around the Inn in perfect condition, bright and happy, full of exotic magical plants. During the summer, Harry would often drop by for a pint, or Ron and Hermione would stop in. Even Luna and her husband, a dashing funny magizoologist named Rolf, would pop in to say hello when they were in the country between exotic trips around the world with their twin sons.

Neville and Hannah's daughter, Melody, would be starting school in a year and their son, Frankie two years after that.

Neville was sitting out in his garden behind the Inn. Candles floated lazily through the air, casting their warm glow around the courtyard as he waited for Hannah. She stepped out of the kitchen, a pumpkin sundae in her hands and a smile on her face. "Happy 15th anniversary honey," she said softly, happiness blooming on her face. Together they sat in the candle light, eating their pumpkin sundae like they did every anniversary, laughing and talking about the past, the present and their future together.

X x x

((A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are always loved.))


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